Archive for April, 2010
The Mood Can Change On A Dime
Posted by: | CommentsI started the day and I was in a fantastic mood.
Dropped the kids off at school and went for a quiet shopping trip. I needed some life supplies at Target. It was quite peaceful. I compared laundry detergents, got some self tanners, and even picked up some shorts for the kids.
I saved the fun stuff for last…I love looking at the clearance clothes at Target.
Then I faced the fact that I had to buy a bathing suit for vacation. It’s only a few weeks away. I found one on clearance! Score! I even found a second that was on sale! Awesome!
I picked Chloe up from preschool, we ate lunch and Chloe set up shop on the couch for a bit while I did some work. Chloe was invited over to the neighbor’s house for a couple of hours. Score again! Two hours of no interruptions (well, no interruptions from kids). I wrote the restaurant schedule, I worked on the event calendar, I paid some bills. I still had time. I decided to try on my new bathing suits.
Um.
I’m just gonna sit here in the fetal position for a while, mmmmkay?
Well, It’s Not a Pet Rock
Posted by: | CommentsLast week my daughters started with the whole rubber band bracelets
Because she was so very grown up about the whole situation, I told her that we could go and get some the next day after school. We headed to a new store that opened near us, Five Below. I got Becca three packs of twelve bracelets and told her that the only way I was buying her three packs was if she shared with the kids in her class who didn’t have any. Chloe got two packs (dinosaurs and cars, of course. She’s SO not girly.) They were super excited to trade and share. A neighbor had told me that she was going to use them for her kids as a reward system. I decided to jump right up onto that bandwagon.
I now have a jar full of them where I sit. They each get to pick one if they get along with each other all day, and one if they clean up after themselves all day. So far (it’s only been three days) it seems to be working well. And it was a pretty inexpensive way to motivate them.
Hopefully I can ride it out for at least another week or so. Becca’s teacher just banned them from the class room. UGH.
Bucket List Revisited
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I’ve finally gotten up the courage to edit my bucket list. Seeing that I wrote this bucket list back in my early twenties, my priorities have changed a bit. You can see my bucket list on some previous posts (Bucket List Part 1 and Bucket List Part 2).
So, here’s what I’m removing from my bucket list:
- Kill Bill (um, for obvious reasons…and that damn Quentin Tarantino stole my title)
- Eat 1 pound of grape jelly beans (don’t enjoy puking)
- Kill 2 birds with 1 stone (again, with the killing…but I have succeeded in what it means, not the literal sense)
- Meet Brad Pitt. (meh…)
- Convince Janelle she’s not fat (haven’t seen her in years…)
- Marry a rich man (but like I said, we can still become rich
) - Drive on the autobahn (I’ve had my moments of driving 100 mph. That was enough)
So, I didn’t really take that much off. Here’s what is still ON the list. And yes, some of them are pretty odd. I kept some on just because I figured that if I wanted to do it then, why not just follow through?
- Skydiving (I MIGHT do this soon)
- Learn to play the harmonica (I’m planning this when I’m retired and not chasing around children)
- Ride the skycoaster at Kennywood
- Snow skiing
- Water skiing
- Visit New York City again
- Play paintball again
- Ride a dolphin
- Go to Idaho (hey…why not?)
- Blow a bubble bigger than my head
- Milk a cow
- Surf
- Parasail
- See Pearl Jam in concert
- Build a cool sand castle
- Pet a giraffe
- See Letterman
- Go to Vegas
- Learn how to fix a car
- Be in a talk show audience
- Quit smoking
- Go to Fiji
- Get a degree
- Scuba Diving
- Get a bitchin’ car
- Be on a tv show
- See a volcano
- Go to Seattle
- Paint a picture
I figure that if I start planning shortly, I can knock out New York City, seeing Letterman and talk show audience all in one. Now, here’s what I’m adding to the list:
- Be at my daughters’ graduations/weddings/important life events
- See my grandkids
- Live on the beach
- Either 1. Sell the restaurant or 2. Open another (Neither of these will happen for another three years or so. I’m not quite sure which one we will ultimately decide on)
- Accept that I don’t have to be right ALL OF THE TIME!!!
- Weigh 130 pounds again (this may not happen until I’m in my seventies…..)
- Develop closer relationships with my family and friends.
- Hire a cleaning lady
- Replace everything in my house that is stained from the kids and dog
- Stop screaming at the kids so much
- Make enough money to afford all this crap
That’s what is in my brain right now. I may add more. I may take some off. I should have my associates degree in December. I’ll keep you posted on any updates
Who Turned Out The Lights?
Posted by: | CommentsLet me tell you about the big, crazy storm we had on Friday. Friday started out great…eighty degrees, sunny, and just a little breezy. My neighbor called me to sit outside for a bit while the kids played. We did just that, and then it was time to head to the bus stop. As we’re getting ready to go, it started to drizzle. So, we pile ourselves, Chloe, her four year old and the one year old that she watches into her mom-mobile (aka mini-van). The bus stop is not even two blocks away. By the time we park the van, it starts to rain. A lot. And holy wind, Batman! I looked through the windshield and saw a trampoline tumbling through a yard and into the street. It was crazy. Another Mom jumped in the car with us and we waited for the bus in the storm. When it came, we just piled every kid we could into the van. I got home, picked up the pieces of one destroyed playhouse, let the dog in (yes, he was scared and very, very, wet), and got on the horn.
There was damage everywhere. Trampolines were ruined, tons of shingles were missing (thankfully, not from my house). And the icing on the cake? No electricity. If you’ve never experienced a loss of power with small children, you are missing small people asking you the same thing about eight bazillion times. ”When is the power coming back on?!?!”
We got through the first hour and a half pretty easily. I actually took a little nap while they watched the battery operated television we have. Then it died. So, I told them to just play! It wasn’t dark. So they did play blocks for a while, and they were ok (aside from fitting that famous question in whenever they could). We got a bath and got ready for bed. Still no power. I was figuring that it would come back overnight. No such luck. They woke me up at 6:50 am. I very calmly (but sternly) looked at them with my one open eye.
“Can you do me a favor? Brush your teeth, get an outfit and brush your hair. Mommy needs some coffee, so we’re going out for pancakes.”
That took the edge off. We had a great breakfast, went to Downey’s House, I did my work and we came home. And, YAY! We had power.
Everybody made it through the “big ordeal” just fine. Except maybe for the dog. He starts to whimper every time it starts to sprinkle when he’s outside. 
One little snippet from the weekend that I have to share. As we (which includes Tony) were out and about yesterday, there was a “gentleman” who just wouldn’t let me in to merge while I was driving. He wasn’t very nice. Tony let him know that while he was looking in his rear view mirror. I’m sure the man read Tony’s lips while he said “Thanks for letting her in, Dickhead!”
Becca promptly said “Yeah! You’re a stickhead, man.”
I’m sure glad she said THAT.
You Can Take the Girl Out of Pittsburgh…
Posted by: | CommentsMy friend Jenn was in town this week. I was happy to get a visit from her on Tuesday, and to meet her (and some other friends) out for dinner. She currently lives in North Carolina, and is trying to move back to Pittsburgh. Well, I don’t really need to tell you the story, because you can go and read about it. The Post Gazette wrote an article about her and her husband. Go ahead, go and read it. It will open in a new window for ya. Shoo.
…
OK, did you read it? So now you know her story. She’s really having a tough time finding a job here. But she really wants to come back.
Pittsburgh is funny like that. There are Pittsburghers everywhere. All over the country. But they still consider themselves Pittsburghers. Forever.
My folks are in Florida. They are Pittsburghers. They drive to Ft. Lauderdale so they can go to Primanti’s (although, they say it’s not the same, but close). They get excited when they find Iron City. When my Mom comes to visit, I always have Islay’s chipped ham and Mancini’s bread. It’s what they love, and what (other than their flesh and blood) connects them to their roots.
I am happy I live here. I’m happy I never had to leave. I’m comfortable with my kids being raised here. I love the sense of community. I love the hills. Hell, I even love it when people say “dahn tahn” and “dahn arahn the way.” And I love yinz guys.
I’ve shared my goals with you. There will come a day, when my girls are grown and I am a grandma, that I will live on the beach. I envision myself in a large, floppy hat. I’ll be sitting in a chair, under an umbrella with my computer on my lap and my toes in the sand. Tony, with his grey hair and loud Hawaiian print shirt, will walk down and say he’s headed to the golf course, and he’ll meet me for lunch. After he gives me a quick kiss, I’ll sip my coffee and look out at the waves. I’ll have an overwhelming feeling of calm and happiness.
But I’ll still be a Pittsburgher at heart.
Hey…I can dare to dream, right?
So hey, if anybody has a job for Jenn or her hubby, let me know! They really, really, really want to be able to have Primantis or chipped ham whenever they feel the urge 
